::Home    ::Departments    ::The English Department

.

 
 

 

 English Homepage  
 GCE Language  
 GCE Literature  
 GCSE English Language  

 GCSE English Literature

 
 Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9)  
 Contact the Dept  
   
   
   
 Extras  
 Book Groups  
 English Clubs  

 Forthcoming Events

 
 School Magazine  

 Teacher Support

 
   
   
   
 
  Download the Parent Guide  

Welcome to the English Department

Key Stage 3 English

             
    Year 7 Year 8 Year 9    
      Select a Year      
 
 
       
 

Year 7

All students follow a course developed from the National Framework for English for KS3.    
         
    They are taught in streams in Year 7    
         
    Students are assessed throughout the year in Reading, Writing and Speaking & Listening with exams at the end of Terms 1 & 3. Each student’s progress is tracked to ensure they are developing their skills.  A focus on developing Reading and Writing skills, linked to students’ individual targets, is provided through our “Spotlight on Assessment Focuses Unit” that runs across Key Stage 3 alongside the following units of work:
         
  Term1 Take Action –  students develop their powers of persuasion    
         
    Prose study – students study from a range of novels including The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, Point Blanc, The Wind Singer, Kiss the Dust, Chinese Cinderella, Buddy, Carrie’s War. The Ruby in the Smoke, Ingo.
         
  Term 2 Detective story unit    
   

Poetry – students explore the features of ballads and write their own

         
  Term 3

Prose study – students study a 2nd novel from the list above

    Shakespeare – a study of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream
         
    Students are asked to read a novel from the Year 7 booklist for 20 minutes each evening as part of their homework.    
         
         
     
  Year 8 All students follow a course developed from the National Framework for English for KS3.

They are taught in streams in Year 8

   
         
    Students are assessed throughout the year in Reading, Writing and Speaking & Listening with exams at the end of Terms 2 & 6. Each student’s progress is tracked to ensure they are developing their skills.  A focus on developing Reading and Writing skills, linked to students’ individual targets, is provided through our “Spotlight on Assessment Focuses Unit” that runs across Key Stage 3 alongside the following units of work:
         
  Term1 Prose study – students study from a range of novels including Coram Boy, Goggle Eyes, Coraline, Goodnight Mr Tom, Private Peaceful, Holes, The Foreshaodwing, The machine Gunners, Witch Child, The Dark Behind the Curtain, Advertising
         
  Term 2

Travel Writing

   
    Poetry – students explore a range of poems and learn to make comparisons between them
         
  Term 3 Prose study – students study a 2nd novel from the list above
    Drama – students study modern drama texts and write their own playscript    
         
    Students are asked to read a novel from the Year 8 booklist for 20 minutes each evening as part of their homework.    
         
         
         
  Year 9 All students follow a course developed from the National Framework for English for KS3.

They are taught in sets in Year 9

   
         
    Students are assessed throughout the year in Reading, Writing and Speaking & Listening with exams at the end of Terms 1 & 3. Each student’s progress is tracked to ensure they are developing their skills.  A focus on developing Reading and Writing skills, linked to students’ individual targets, is provided through our “Spotlight on Assessment Focuses Unit” that runs across Key Stage 3 alongside the following units of work:
         
  Term1 Prose study – students study from a range of novels including Roll of Thunder, Animal farm, The Pearl, Stone Cold, Face, Kes, Across the Barricades, Z for Zachariah
    Magazines
     

Term 2

Shakespeare – Romeo & Juliet    
  Short stories – students study extracts from stories and write their own story opening
       
Term 3 Language of warfare – a study of war poetry
       
  Spoken Language – students prepare for their 1st GCSE controlled assessment by exploring the influences on how spoken language is used in a range of contexts. The controlled assessment is taken during the school exam week at the end of term 3.
       
  Students are asked to read a novel from the Year 9 booklist for 20 minutes each evening as part of their homework.